A Lass from Across the Pond
by A-Stretched-Mind
Summary: Here's a little story bout my favorite show, LRTC. This is my first fanfic, so i hope its okay!
1. Chapter 1

_Chapter 1_

Edmund gobbled down his breakfast and hurried out the door one morning in Spring. It was the day that the new field equipment was to come in and he simply could not wait to try it! He wore his most comfortable work clothes to work that day, a loose-fitting thin cotton shirt that showed his muscles quite flatteringly when he rolled the sleeves, and brown baggy pants with his favorite boots.

"Well, what are you so in a hurry about, today, Edmund?" asked Mrs. Timmins, who was fixing breakfast for her other children.

"New equipment comes in today," he responded hastily, without looking up from his shoe laces, which he was now tying, "Can't be late!"

As he ran out the door, Robert Timmins came down the stairs and found his wife giggling, "Your son is going to end up just like you one day, Robert Timmins!"

"With the prettiest woman he's ever laid eyes on as a wife?" he said as he hugged her around the waist and kissed her.

"With a constant longing to get the job done right, no matter how long your breakfast gets to settle!" she teased.

"Both good qualities, as I see it," he smiled as he kissed Emma once again and then left for the day.


	2. Chapter 2

_Chapter 2_

Edmund Timmins was determined to get his choice in tools. He was tired of always being disregarded because he was the youngest worker in his section of the field! In the next acre over, there was a fourteen-year-old boy and also a boy of no more than ten years! Edmund was fifteen, older than both of them, but still the only worker in his acre under the age of nineteen. It was bothersome. Not because he could not relate to the other men, but because they could not relate to him. Or rather, that they didn't want to. They treated him like a child. They said that he wasn't as capable as them, or that he wasn't as important as them, or that the job wasn't as necessary for him as it was for them. Isn't one of the reasons he came to work in the fields to prove to everyone else that he _wasn't _a child; that he really is a man now? So why was he still treated as lower than the older men?

He decided that he must get to work first, so that he could pick the best tool, instead of being put off until last and getting the bent one, or the rusted on, or the dull one. Not again. But Edmund had not been out of the house more than three minutes when he noticed something that couldn't not be noticed.


	3. Chapter 3

_Chapter 3_

It was a voice. Edmund heard the strangest voice he had ever encountered! This person was obviously not from Lark Rise, or Candleford, or Fordlough, or Bambery, or Oxford, or even London. It was the most peculiar accent he had ever heard. It was a girl's voice, and very lovely at that. But strange! Very, very strange. There were more voices with the same unusual accent, a party of them.

He turned to where he had heard the voices coming from, but he did not see anyone. Whoever these people were, they sounded like they were in distress, ad had he not been on his way to the most important work day ever, he would look around to see if he could help. But, of course, under the circumstances, he could do nothing. He went on his hurried way. Still, he couldn't stop himself from wondering…

When he had walked about a hundred feet from where he heard the voices, he became aware of someone behind him. Someone was following him, he knew, but he didn't know who it was. He could not be troubled with something like this on a day like today, so he decided to just get it over with and send whoever it was on their way. He stopped, turned on his heal and shouted,

"Quit following me, will–" He stopped. The person he saw before him was definitely not the type of person he thought it was. He stared back at the beautiful young woman who now crossed her arms and glared at him. She looked about his age and was about five inches shorter than him. Her hair was dark brown, curled ever so slightly and fell gently, a little below her shoulders. Her skin was fair but she had naturally very pink cheeks. A few freckles were sprinkled upon her nose and her eyelashes were long and dark. Her lips were a deep red, which looked unusual on a person of such light skin. Her eyes, though, caught his eyes immediately. They were grey. Edmund had never seen grey eyes, and he had never seen anyone so bewitching.


	4. Chapter 4

_Chapter 4_

"Oh, and is _that _how you Brits treat a young lady?" the girl asked, with anger in her voice. Her voice. It was the strange voice Edmund had heard. The lovely voice he had heard before, and if he had known what a lovely face belonged to it, he would surely stop to look for, even if it meant missing out on a good tool or two.

"I, I, duh, I, you, er, " Edmund simply could not find the words, or any words at all He was so captured by this girl, and so embarrassed!

"Hm? Is that all you can say? 'I, duh, er,' is that all? Hm?" She demanded. Edmund only stared back at her. "Well, obviously, you cannot communicate like a proper human being, so I will go and find someone who can actually help me!" She turned around and started to walk away.

"No, please. I'm sorry," Edmund made her come back, "I was just a bit, y'know, startled." She made a face.

"You? You were startled? Yes, I believe I can relate to that as I was the one who you suddenly screamed at out of no where!" She was harsh. But she kept walking, and Edmund didn't want her to go.

"Well, you don't have to be so cruel. How was I to know you were …a girl?" As soon as he heard the words, he realized they didn't come out right and corrected himself, "I mean, I surely knew you were one when I saw you. But, until then I didn't know, because I didn't see you, and so how was I to possibly know?"

"Well, now that you do know, do you have anything to say for yourself?" she said.

"Yeah, I do. What is so wrong with a boy thinking a girl is beautiful?"


	5. Chapter 5

_Chapter 5_

Edmund could not believe it. He simply could not believe it. How could he have let such words slip his mouth? This was the most embarrassing thing that had ever happened to him. He saw her surprised expression and realized that the words he had been thinking had actually decided to come out. He gasped in shock and embarrassment and started running off as fast as he could.

As he ran, his head flooded with thoughts like _'I cannot believe myself,' 'How could I do something like that?' 'First she thought I was rude, then she thought I was stupid, what will she think of me now?' _and _'Wow, she was beautiful,' 'Her voice was so strange. Where could she be from?' 'Did she really call me a _Brit_?'_

He may have heard her calling after him, probably telling him to wait up, but he didn't care. He had to get as far away as possible and as soon as possible! Ugh, he had always been foolish around girls, but this was his worst slip-up yet! He hoped to God he wouldn't see that poor lass again. Now that he could think again, he remembered that she really was incredibly cruel to him! She yelled, snapped, and lashed out at him when he had only made a simple mistake. Hm, girls did puzzle him…

She was beautiful though.

Mean as she was, she was still with out a doubt the most beautiful creature Edmund had ever laid eyes on! But, what did it matter anymore. He had blown it from the start when he yelled, then made it even worse when he completely lost ability to communicate. And of course, it sure didn't make things better when he blurted out that she was pretty. No, not even a simple "pretty," he said that she was beautiful! But, such is the sad, sad life of an awkward young lad.

Edmund go to work and all there was left of the "new" equipment was a stupid ol' rusty hoe. He sighed sadly and worked as best he could, although it was not that sufficient of a tool. In fact, it was not that sufficient of a day…


	6. Chapter 6

_Chapter 6_

Later that evening, Edmund was walking home, and luckily was not thinking about the morning's slipup. But he was quickly reminded of them when he heard a strange voice. He didn't even have to think about who it could be.

"I'm sorry," it said, "About this morning, I mean."

Edmund turned around and looked at her once-shining face, which now had a bit of a sad look on it. "What do you have to say sorry for?" he asked.

"I have a temper. A horrible temper. And I let it get away from me," She looked sincere in her apology, and Edmund didn't really know what to say. He shifted his weight and looked down at her shoes. They used to be shiny and new, he could tell but she wasn't prepared for the thick and sticky Lark Rise mud that now coated them.

"Oh, that's alright, I shouldn't have gotten so angry either," he said, still looking down.

"It really wasn't a way to treat a lady you know," Edmund looked up and saw that she was smiling as she said it. He couldn't help but laugh.

"You know, I have never gotten so harshly scolded, not even form my mother!" he said, still laughing. She laughed too and gave herself a silly bonk on the head.

"What is you're name by the way? Oh, my name is Edmund."

"My name is Lianne." It was such a pretty name, to match such a pretty face, and Edmund smiled at the sound of it.

"Can I ask you, why _were _you following me?" he wanted to know. He face turned somber and worried, and she said, "I was wondering if you could help my family. You see, we just got in from America-" That explained it! The strange voice, the calling him a brit, the shoes, everything! "So, you're a lass from across the pond!" He shouted. She gave him a funny look. "You're not from this side of the ocean, you're from across the pond."

"Okay, yes, I guess I'm from 'across the pond.' But we really need your help! You see, we were just riding along the side of the road and-"

"So that explains you're funny voice, and your shoes, and everything!"

"EDMUND! Please! My family and I really need you're help! And you're not listening!"

"You're right, I'm sorry. What's wrong?"

"Well, we were riding along the side of the road in our carriage wagon thing and all of a sudden we hit a rock and we fell over! Our carriage fell over on its side and now it's in the mud and we simply didn't know what to do. We have no where to go, we couldn't flip our carriage over again, and we have to many things with us to just carry, and we can't just leave everything there. We don't know what to do! My brothers and I each set out to look for help, and you were the first person I saw! I decided I would ask you, but I got too scared and didn't know what to say, and so I thought I would just follow you until decided what would be best to say. But then you got so angry and then I got so angry, and then you left, and I still had no where to go and didn't know what to do, so then I saw you agin, and now I 'm asking you for help agin, so if there is anything, _anything,_ that you can do, it would be very greatly appreciated!"

Edmund didn't know what to say, or do. Looking at this girl, with tears streaming down her face, he couldn't say anything. He wanted to help, but he couldn't think of anything. He just looked at her, "I…..d'I…uhhm…." He smacked his face '_Not this again!'_

"Never mind," she said with a look of disgust, disappointment, and despair. "I should have known, you wouldn't know what to do." She turned and started to run, but Edmund wouldn't let her. He ran in front of her and she fell In his arms, face in his chest, sobbing.

"I won't let anything happen to you. Or your family. I will help you get out of the ditch and back home." He felt a certain strength and ability in his own words, and it gave him hope. It gave him hope.

It gave him hope.


End file.
